Kentucky down to No. 21 in the NET following Vanderbilt loss

Do you want the good news or the bad news? Let’s start with the good because we could all use it. Kentucky is only down two spots to No. 21 in the NET Rankings following last night’s loss to Vanderbilt. That’s a relief.

The bad news? Vanderbilt only rose one spot in the NET, to No. 84, which keeps last night’s loss in Quad 3 for now. Road wins are valued more in the NET, so there was hope the ‘Dores would get a nice bump for the victory in Rupp; alas, the NET said no, so Kentucky still has two Quad 3 losses (Vandy, at Georgia) in addition to the Quad 4 loss to South Carolina.

If Vanderbilt rises into the NET Top 75, last night’s loss moves up to Quad 2, and Kentucky’s win over the ‘Dores in Nashville moves to Quad 1. Vanderbilt hosts Mississippi State (NET No. 43) to finish the season on Saturday night. Similarly, if Auburn (NET No. 37) rises into the Top 30 and Michigan (NET No. 54) into the Top 50, Kentucky’s wins over them will move to Quad 1. Any Quad 1 win you can get at this point of the season is big, so go Tigers and Wolverines.

Here are the updated NET rankings as of this morning. Alabama, which clinched the SEC regular season title with an overtime win vs. Auburn, is tops in the league at No. 2, followed by Tennessee at No. 3 and Arkansas at No. 15.

RANK	PREV	SCHOOL	RECORD	CONF	QUAD 1	QUAD 2	QUAD 3	QUAD 4
2	2	Alabama	26-4	16-1	9-4	7-0	8-0	2-0
3	3	Tennessee	22-8	11-6	7-5	3-3	5-0	7-0
15	14	Arkansas	19-11	8-9	3-8	4-2	10-1	2-0
21	19	Kentucky	20-10	11-6	5-7	6-0	3-2	6-1
26	24	Texas A&M	22-8	14-3	5-5	4-1	6-0	7-2
37	37	Auburn	19-11	9-8	2-9	6-1	8-1	3-0
43	44	Mississippi St.	20-10	8-9	4-7	3-2	5-1	8-0
49	49	Missouri	22-8	10-7	5-8	4-0	5-0	8-0
60	59	Florida	15-15	8-9	2-12	1-2	7-1	5-0
84	85	Vanderbilt	17-13	10-7	4-9	4-1	4-2	5-1
132	131	Ole Miss	11-19	3-14	1-10	0-6	6-1	4-2
149	150	Georgia	16-14	6-11	1-7	3-4	2-3	10-0
155	154	LSU	13-17	2-15	1-10	1-5	2-1	9-1
233	234	South Carolina	10-20	3-14	1-9	2-4	2-6	5-1

Here’s a look at Kentucky’s Team Sheet, which the Selection Committee will use to sort and evaluate seeds, with one game left in the regular season. The committee breaks Quads 1 and 2 into two parts to further categorize wins and losses. Quad 1A wins are obviously huge. Kentucky has two and a chance to get at least one more, at Arkansas on Saturday. More Quad 1 opportunities await in the SEC Tournament.

Quad 1: 5-7

Quad 1A: Home: 1-15, Neutral: 1-25, Away: 1-40

NET Ranking	Date	Opponent	Result
2	01/07/2023	at Alabama	L 52-78
3	01/14/2023	at Tennessee	W 63-56
3	02/18/2023	Tennessee	W 66-54
4	12/17/2022	UCLA (CBS Sports Classic)	L 53-63
6	01/28/2023	Kansas	L 68-77
9	11/20/2022	at Gonzaga	L 72-88
15	03/04/2023	at Arkansas
15	02/07/2023	Arkansas	L 73-88

Quad 1B: Home: 16-30, Neutral: 26-50, Away: 41-75

NET Ranking	Date	Opponent	Result
26	01/21/2023	Texas A&M	W 76-67
31	11/15/2022	Michigan St. (Champions Classic)	L 77-86 (2 OT)
43	02/15/2023	at Mississippi St.	W 71-68
49	12/28/2022	at Missouri	L 75-89
60	02/22/2023	at Florida	W 82-74

Quad 2: 6-0

Quad 2A: Home: 31-55, Neutral: 51-75, Away: 76-100

NET Ranking	Date	Opponent	Result
37	02/25/2023	Auburn	W 86-54
54	12/04/2022	Michigan (London Showcase)	W 73-69
84	01/24/2023	at Vanderbilt	W 69-53

Quad 2B: Home: 56-75, Neutral: 76-100, Away: 101-135

NET Ranking	Date	Opponent	Result
60	02/04/2023	Florida	W 72-67
65	12/10/2022	Yale	W 69-59
132	01/31/2023	at Ole Miss	W 75-66

Quad 3: 3-2

Home: 76-160, Neutral: 101-200, Away: 136-240

NET Ranking	Date	Opponent	Result
84	03/01/2023	Vanderbilt	L 66-68
110	11/11/2022	Duquesne	W 77-52
149	01/17/2023	Georgia	W 85-71
149	02/11/2023	at Georgia	L 68-75
155	01/03/2023	LSU	W 74-71

Quad 4: 6-1

Home: 161-357, Neutral: 201-357, Away: 241-357

NET Ranking	Date	Opponent	Result
230	11/23/2022	North Florida	W 96-56
233	01/10/2023	South Carolina	L 68-71
236	11/07/2022	Howard	W 95-63
261	11/29/2022	Bellarmine	W 60-41
309	12/31/2022	Louisville	W 86-63
340	11/17/2022	South Carolina St.	W 106-63
359	12/21/2022	Florida A&M	W 88-68

Just get back to winning.